Ohio State’s offense is already drawing the kind of buzz that comes with championship expectations, and two of the biggest reasons are Julian Sayin and Jeremiah Smith.
Both Buckeyes were recognized by the Big Ten at Big Ten Media Day ahead of the 2026 season, a nod that fits the way the conference’s media view the Buckeyes entering the year. Ohio State is widely seen as the favorite to win the Big Ten, and the Sayin-Smith pairing is a major reason why.
Smith enters the season with a chance to chase down every Ohio State receiving record, while Sayin is looking to show NFL teams he belongs in the first round. The conference’s honors list reflected that belief in both players, even if the format itself was a little unusual. The Big Ten does not officially put out a preseason team, and the honors it handed out mixed offensive and defensive players without any real structure.
Still, Sayin and Smith both made the cut.
For Sayin, the expectation is that his second season will be even better than the one that made him a Heisman finalist last year. The rest of the Big Ten media appears to agree that he belongs among the top quarterbacks in the country, alongside Oregon’s Dante Moore.
Smith, meanwhile, is coming into 2026 as the best player in the country once again. His separation ability has made him the premier receiver in the sport, and he remains one of the most dangerous weapons in college football.
There were no Ohio State defensive players on the list, which lines up with what the Buckeyes lost to the NFL Draft in April. Three first-round picks are now in the league, and the talent behind them is still unproven.
Even with those departures, the expectations around Ohio State haven’t budged. That’s what happens when a program keeps stacking success year after year. Anything short of a Big Ten title would be viewed as a disappointment.
The Buckeyes do have talent on defense, but it’s not as established as the group they lost. Ohio State is counting on Matt Patricia to keep that unit at the same elite level it reached last season, when it finished as the best statistical defense in the country.
If Sayin and Smith finish the year the way many expect, they should be back in the All-Big Ten conversation. Smith looks like a near lock for First-Team honors, and if Sayin reaches that same level, Ohio State will be in position to chase something even bigger.
But this still isn’t a two-man game. Smith and Sayin will need the rest of the roster to win their matchups, too, if the Buckeyes are going to turn all that preseason praise into something more.
In Other News...
Ohio State Is Suddenly Making Noise For A Tough SEC Country Target
Ohio States recruiting momentum has already shown up in the class with commitments from five-star offensive tackle Marcus Fakatou and four-star lineman Karlos May, even as the Buckeyes took a miss on five-star running back David Gabriel Georges, who picked Tennessee. Now the attention has shifted to a different kind of target in four-star safety CJ Craig-James, a player from SEC country who has kept Ohio State in the mix and given the Buckeyes reason to believe this one is not as long a shot as it once looked.
Craig-James has already trimmed his list and included Ohio State among the schools still standing, which matters for a program trying to keep its foot in the door with elite defensive backs. The next step is the one that tends to separate real contenders from hopefuls, and Ohio State likely needs to get him on campus for a game-day visit to stay in the conversation, even though no date has been set yet. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame Just Crossed A Line College Football Fans Saw Coming
Notre Dames latest move in the name, image and sponsorship era is about more than a logo and a check. The school has entered a multi-year partnership with SoFi Technologies that makes the financial services company the official partner of the athletic department, with the agreement built around helping student-athletes and their families beyond their time on campus. The deal also includes the SoFi Champions Scholarship and a student-athlete services hub aimed at financial education, planning and support.
For college sports fans, the bigger takeaway is how quickly the ground is shifting around traditional power programs, and Notre Dame is now leaning into that reality in a very visible way. The partnership puts a premium on long-term support for athletes, but it also signals how aggressively schools are monetizing their brands in ways that would have been hard to imagine not long ago, especially for a program that has long guarded its image so closely. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Just Entered A New Era With JPMorgan Chase
Ohio State athletics is heading into a new commercial era, one that reaches far beyond the football field. The school announced a partnership with JPMorgan Chase that will put the banks logo on jerseys across all 36 varsity sports beginning in the 2026-27 season, adding another visible layer to a department that continues to operate on a bigger, more corporate stage than ever before.
The agreement also brings support for NIL opportunities and financial literacy programs for student-athletes, which gives the deal a broader purpose than simple branding. With the partnership reportedly worth nearly $17 million annually, it underscores how major athletic departments are increasingly tying competitive, financial and educational priorities together, even if the full impact of this one will not be felt until the new era officially arrives. [Read more 🡒]